The art of lazy negotiation

So just like many self help management topics, there is a lot of jargon and literature written on the subject of negotiation. Respectfully not disagreeing to what the learned women and men have said, this one is but a shortcut for when you don’t have the time to go through the grease and the grind.

There are some ingredients of a good recipe typically prescribed. These include (and not limit to: effective communication (can’t learn in a day); listening (sounds easy, but really isn’t); rapport building (even with the sharks), empathy for a win-win and so on and so forth. But I am not talking about these, and if you have read so far – its safe to assume that neither are you interested.

I am inherently lazy and good at selling. These concepts from my playbook are essentially self developed (no rocket science) and work efficiently. If you already follow the longer route, this can still work on top.

Factually the bigger the stake the longer it typically takes to close a deal (unless of course there is a desperation on either side, and then its really not a negotiation). Even if you were reckless, the other side will not be and will take its time. Thus I believe that the basic groundwork of subject matter knowledge is already in place. That’s good enough to start.

And then,

1.    Know what’s at stake. Imagine in details what your world will look like if the deal doesn’t go your way. Imagine this in 3 scenarios – immediate, short term and long term. And now imagine what’s plan B. In most cases when we are in the flow, we end up giving up huge for things that really don’t matter that much in the eagerness to just get that immediate win. Thus it’s very important to get this understanding right. If you already have an alternate that can set your course right even if there is an immediate pitfall. You have the leverage of ‘not much to loose’. Most of the times, things can be aligned in the medium term and don’t matter by the long term.

2.    Keep this a secret. Else the leverage shifts.

3.    Know what’s at stake for the other party. Eg shopping for whitegoods and cars is usually good towards the end of the month as sales executives have targets to achieve. Also very important to subtly bring this up in the interaction, but play this card with caution. If you don’t champion verbal skills, then best to avoid this as may sound like a threat. Putting the other side in any discomfort is something that never helps.

4.    Now, make a list of what you want out of a deal. And bucket this into 2. Must haves and good to haves. You should be willing to let go of the latter and let go of the deal if the former is not fulfilled.

5.    With point 1 and 4 in mind, estimate what are you willing to pay / give in exchange. Most important is to know what is going to be a deal-breaker for you – your stretch limits. Knowing point no. 3 will also help you guess what is the sweetener you can expect from the other side as a discount or a deal.

6.    Now, the final equation is like this. You know what it is that is non-negotiable for you to get out of the deal (point no.4), you also know what will impact will be there and what’s plan B (point no. 1) and there is awareness of what is your break point to say no (point no. 5) and walk away.  

 Example, you are out there to buy a house:

·     Non negotiable could be that it has to be 3 bedrooms and close malls and hospitals. Good to have list can have features like proximity to the city center, and above 1700 SFT with more than 2 baths.

·     If you are unable to get the one you really like because of the view, it could be OK as in the long run you can invest in one that’s still under construction and take the one with the view on rent for a year (this defines plan B).

·     Break point in this case could be the budget, yes 1Cr is OK, but you can stretch out to 1.2 if most your ‘good to have’ conditions are met too.

Captain, you are ready to engage! You are invincible